TEAM Edits/Grades Epic Bullfighting Doc, The Matador

Washington D.C., October 9, 2008: The epic tale of David Fandila's quest to become the worldâ€™s top-ranked bullfighter, The Matador, opens in select theaters starting October 31st at the Angelika Film Center in New York. A gripping story of heart wrenching set-backs and thrilling successes, the feature documentary was brought to its full potential by the editorial and color correction talent at Washington, D.C.-based TEAM.
â€œDavidâ€™s struggle was beautifully captured by the rich HD cinematography and compelling orchestral score,â€? said Team Sr. Editor, Ian Rummer. â€œThe edit had to tie it all together and deliver an emotional experience. The audience had to feel the passion, not be told what to feel. This was the guiding editorial principle and what sets the film apart as an epic cinematic triumph rather than a dry, traditional documentary.â€?
This philosophy also defined the finishing process, for which Rummer switched hats and assumed online and color correction duties. â€œIn a film like this, the color correction becomes as important as the editorial,â€? said Nina Gilden Seavey, producer/co-director of The Matador. â€œThe colors are paramount for something as iconic as a bullfight and the look of that and the feel and the shifting lightâ€”you need an extremely experienced colorist and a system that can do the project justice.â€?
Rummer said, â€œWe were really tested in this film because of the high expectations that were put on the final look.â€? Rummer turned to the Quantel eQ system to finish the job. The main reason to bring The Matador into the eQ was the color correction capabilities of QColor. The other important feature of the eQ was its multi-formatting capability. The primary source was HDCam 23.98PsF material. There were also High Definition 29.97i sources, NTSC, PAL, photos and QuickTime movies. According to Rummer, the eQ not only accommodated the variety of formats, but the conversion and processing quality was extremely high.
One of the reasons the color correction was so challenging is because bullfights start at 5 PMâ€”when the light rapidly changes. Continuity was an issue when condensing bullfights over a long period of time into a couple of minutes and, sometimes, harsh shadows and bright sunlight dominate the same scene. Rummer created a balanced contrast that emphasized the detail in the shadows while protecting the brighter areas. â€œThis is difficult to achieve without crushing the blacks and clipping the highlights, which results in losing significant information,â€? said Rummer.
â€œThe color grading tools combined with the keying, compositing, tracking, and animation abilities of the eQ offer a comprehensive toolset you donâ€™t get in traditional color correction suites,â€? said Rummer. â€œUltimately, I think we successfully delivered a stylized finished product that reinforced the artistry and passion of the story because I was able to efficiently tackle the individual challenges of each shot while maintaining consistency.â€?
The Matador is distributed to select theaters in North America by City Lights Pictures. It is produced and directed by Stephen Higgins and Nina Gilden Seavey. The executive producers are Scott Dunklee and Kristie Nova. Christopher Jenkins and James Morton-Haworth are the directors of photography. Ian Rummer served as editor. Audio design and mix provided by Scott Rhame, and John Califra composed and orchestrated the filmâ€™s score. For more information, please visit

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